


Mates

by Fairhaven74



Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Forced Marriage, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Mpreg, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-06-04 03:43:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 31
Words: 22,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6640042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fairhaven74/pseuds/Fairhaven74
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John Sheppard's life is turned upside down when he turns sixteen.  It's also not so great for Rodney McKay either.  In a world where some people are matched by genetics John and Rodney learn that love and family isn't always enough to keep someone happy and sometimes you have to change the world to get what you want.<br/> *PLEASE NOTE that this story is AU so it is a world that does NOT conform to ours.  All references to underage sex is between two teenagers and not an adult and teenager.  The child abuse will not be sexual in anyway and all will be off screen.  Also, this is an Mpreg so if that is not to your liking your might want to skip this story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not have a beta so all mistakes are mine. Comments are welcome, but please keep them civil. Please read all tags as this may not be to your liking or it might be a trigger for some readers.

John had just gotten home from school when his dad called him into his office.

“John, please come in here.”

“What’s up dad?”

Patrick grimmest “John, I got a call from the council today. They found a match for you.”

John was a bit shocked. He hadn’t thought the Match Council would contact his dad this soon, John had just been registered for a week. “What did they say?”

“Your mate will be here by the end of the week.”

John was silent for a moment before he spoke, “But I’m only sixteen, I thought they couldn’t make us mate until we were at least eighteen?”

“That’s true…but your mate is apparently very smart and he was already in college. He had one year left before he received his first degree.”

“He won’t be allowed to continue school will he? What’s his name,” John asked?

“Meredith McKay. He can continue to attend, but only if you are as well. You know the rules, the dominate mate makes all the decisions. We may not like it, but it is the law.”

“Yeah, I know. I guess I could finish high school early. I’ve just been having fun taking my time, but if he wants to continue with school I don’t see why not. Is he really that smart? What was he studying,” John asked?

“He was a double major, physics and mechanical engineering. Also, you know that he won’t be able to continue his studies, he will only be allowed to study what you are taking and only so that he can help support your career.”

John sighed, he knew all this it just seemed so unfair to this poor kid.

John finally saw the worry in his dad’s eyes, “Dad, what’s wrong? There is more isn’t there.”

“John, because you tested positive they retested me…and I…well I tested positive as well.”

“You tested as a carrier,” John said flatly. He knew what that meant and it was not good.

“Yes, they haven’t found a match yet, but it is only a matter of time. I need to transfer everything into your name before they find one. I had the papers drawn up before I found out, I signed them last week. All that is need is for your signature and it is done.”

“Dad, I’m only sixteen…I still have to finish school and what about Dave?”

“John, please this is the only way I can protect what should be yours. This is also the only way to protect your brother. You know that they would be able to test him for a few more years, if he is a carrier well this will give you the ability to protect him. This also give you the ability to protect me if something should happen…”  


John closed his eyes, before nodding and taking the pen to sign his name.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Comments are welcome.

John was nervous, his hands were sweating and his stomach was turning. He was supposed to meet his mate for the first time today. John still did not like the situation and he had been scouring law books looking for loopholes in the Mate Laws; unfortunately, he has only found a few and they were really obscure.

John had decided to start looking at the history of Mate Law and genetic mate in general. What he found was not encouraging, no one knew where the carriers came from and why some people were genetically more compatible to them than others. What people did know was that carriers had been around since before recorded history, but how or why they existed was still a mystery.

Now how the Mate Laws came to be, was not a mystery. It started about three hundred years ago, when the carriers’ numbers started to drop. International laws were passed that most everyone abided by; a mate matching council was created to find and bring compatible people together. Unfortunately, abuse began and as time when on the carriers were given less and less freedoms. At this point in time, they were prohibited from doing most anything that did not benefit their dominate mate. Even that part was not quite right, because neither party were compelled to be dominate; one could just carry and give birth to children. For the life of him, John could not figure out why it was so important to keep carriers breeding, it was not like the human race was in danger of extinction. The plants population could attest to that with just over 700 million people on it; he did not see why forcing a group of people to continue something that was just not necessary. He could understand it if that was what they wanted, but not making them do it.

John did find that medically speaking there was some sort of chemical reaction that happened between the two parties. When they had sex some bonding process would happen and the only byproduct that John could find was it made it impossible for someone else to impregnate the carrier. John could not think of anything in nature that would have caused this result, but science still did not have a way to do this either. It was all perplexing.

John was not only concerned about having a mate of his own, but now he faced losing his father and possibly his brother in a few years. John was not ready for that; he was only sixteen and still a kid. Unfortunately, for him because he was able to impregnate his mate that now made him an adult to the rest of the world. He had not even graduated high school yet. Of course, he would be done with high school in a few months and since he now had responsibilities he would be able to do independent studies. He would not have to attend actual classes anymore.

John did not know how things were going to work out, but he did know that he would do everything in his power to protect the people he cared about including his new mate.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Just corrected a few typos.

John was sitting in his office pouring through business files and accounting ledges when there was a knock on the office door. He really had to get this down before the next meeting he had to attend.  

“Come,”

“Mister Sheppard your guests have arrived,” James their butler said.

John smiled at him, “Thanks James, I’ll be there in a moment please show them into the living room.”

“Of course, sir.”

John sighed that was going to take some getting used to being called mister Sheppard and sir. He shook his head to clear it and put his papers away. He entered the living room, or as his mother used to call it the parlor, just as his father and brother entered the room. He nodded to them.

He turned to his guests and saw a skinny kid about his age looking terrified and two men in their thirty’s towering over the kid. He smiled politely to the two men and gave a quick wave to the kid who never looked up at him.

“Gentlemen,” John said. It could never be said that John Sheppard lacked manners.

“Mister Sheppard, I’m Mister Smith and this is Mister Jones. We are here to deliver your pro…uh mate to you.”

John wanted to roll his eyes at these guys. Seriously, did they think he was stupid? Of course they were there to deliver Meredith.

“Thank you. You may leave now, I think I can handle this on my own,” John just wanted to get these two guys out of his house they were creeping him out.

“Of Course, sir we just need to collect Patrick and we can be on our way.”

John raised his eyebrows at that, “I was unaware that you have located a match for my father? Has that changed?”

“Uh…no we just figured while we are hear we can take him to the holding facility until a match can be found.”

“No,” John said flatly. This was why he had read up on the laws. He had had a feeling that they would try this on his father.

“Excuse me, but you cannot say no. He was identified as a carrier and will have a mate. Once that is done, than he and his mate will return here to care for your brother. His mate of course will take over any business concerns and monetary accounts that were in your father’s name. An account will be set up for you and your mate as well as your brother until such time as he is able to be tested.”

John handed the document that had been prepared for him to Mister Smith and watched as his eyes widened in shock.

“You can see by that document that I have complete control over all of Sheppard Industries and all household accounts. Even if you find a mate for my father the only money he will be getting is the allowance that I have set up for the care of my father. I have also reviewed the laws and it is not required for a carrier to be house in a holding facility, in fact if the family objects to that they will continue to stay where they reside until such time as an appropriate mate is found for them. I also, know that I can object to any mate if I feel they are unsuitable for my father. Now, as I said before you can leave. When and if you find someone for my father you will contact me directly and I will make arrangements to meet with him. James please show my guests out,” John said in a deadly quiet tone.

As soon as the two men had left John went over to Meredith. “You must be Meredith. I’m John, this is my father Patrick and my brother Dave. I promise I’m not going to hurt you. Are you hungry,” John asked with a soft voice?

For the first time Meredith looked up at John and smiled. John was shocked by Meredith’s very blue eyes and crooked smile, he could see the appeal. He held his hand out for Meredith to take, but Meredith hesitated. That was when John noticed that he was holding his right are close to his chest and had his left arm wrapped around it.

“Hey, what happened to your arm?”

“I talked back and they twisted it. I just wanted to know what was happening and they wouldn’t answer me. I called them all idiots,” Meredith said a bit proudly.

John wanted to laugh at that, it figured he would end up with a feisty mate. Instead he told James to make arrangements for Meredith to see the family doctor as soon as possible. While they waited they headed into the dining room to find food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some characters may be OOC in this work.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Please let me know if you find any.

It had been about a week since Meredith arrived and John had been taking things slow. He wanted to get to know him before they bonded. His dad had yet to be contacted regarding a match yet, which was fine with John. His dad was teaching him everything he could about the business so John could take over. John had always wanted to fly, he had planned on joining the Air Force as soon as he could; however, that option was out now as he had responsibilities. His only hope now was that his brother was like him and could take over when he was old enough.

One good thing to come out of this was that he really did like Meredith. He was funny and they had many shared interests. He figured they could become good friends in time. Meredith spent most of his free time working on his physics papers and his studies. John did not have the heart to tell him that no one would ever publish them, because of his status. John did think that they he could get them published under his name, but he wasn’t sure if Meredith would like that or not.

It was late and John figured he better find Meredith and drag him to bed. It seemed that he had a habit of forgetting what time it was when he got caught up in work. John went in search of him and found him in the family library.

“Meredith, it’s time for bed.”

“I don’t like that name and I’m still working on this. I’ll be done soon.”

“Okay, what do you want me to call you?”

“Mere, that is what my sister called me. Now go away while I work on this.”

John sighed, it was like this every night except this was the first time Meredith made mention of his dislike for his name. John figured he would give it another shot, “Alright, Mere it’s late and it’s time for bed.”

“You’re still here. Huh….I thought you left. A few more minutes and I’ll be done. I have a deadline you know. I have to have this done when I go back to school.”

John shook his head in frustration, Mere just didn’t get it. It was unfair and John hated it, but there was very little he could do. He found as many loopholes he could and would use them to the full advantage, but Mere going back to school was not one of them.

“Mere, baby, I know you have a deadline, but you can’t finish if you are too tired to think straight. Come on let’s go to bed. Please don’t make me drag you again.”

Mere blinked at John. He didn’t hate John, he hated the situation and he would figure a way out of it. He had a plan, but it would take time to put in place. For now he probably should just go along with what his soon to be mate wanted. He knew that John would only hold at for so long. He knew that they would have to have sex soon and that terrified him. He liked blonds, with breasts and woman parts. Not flat chested brunets with man parts.

“Sorry,” Mere said.

John held out his hand and Mere took it after he cleaned up all his papers. They headed up the stairs to John’s room. When they got there John started to kiss Mere trying to make him comfortable with the situation. They normally talked, but John knew that he needed to speed things up soon, because they would be expecting Mere to be pregnant soon. Even if John didn’t want to be a dad yet.

Unfortunately, Mere wasn’t getting with the picture, so John stopped and asked Mere, “What wrong, Mere?”

“Um…well…I…just…youarenotawoman,” Mere said in response.

“Okay, could you say that again, but slower?”

“You are not a woman,” Mere practically whispered.

John sighed, he was afraid of this “Mere sit. Baby, you know that they will not let you go back to your old life, right? We will have to have sex soon. This is not what I wanted either, but we don’t have a choice. If we don’t do this they will take you away and send you to someone else who will not care what you want at all. Why don’t we take tomorrow and go on a date? That way we can get to know each other better.”

“But I have,” Mere started, “I’m never going back to school am I?”

John knelt in front of Mere and looked up at him as he spoke, “Mere, if it was up to me, yes you would. But they will not let you. I plan to change these stupid laws, but it will not be over night, until then we have to make do.”

Mere nodded and John pushed him towards the bathroom to get ready for bed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. I will try to update at least once a week. Feedback is welcome.

Several weeks later John took Mere out for dinner and movie. John was getting pressure from the council to complete the mating. He knew that tonight he would have to push for more with Mere; he was not looking forward to that.

Everything seemed to be coming at John all at once; a match for his father had been located, so he was trying to cope with losing his father, taking care of his brother and his new mate and a business he never wanted. John was stressed beyond his breaking point.

John had taken Mere to a nice restaurant for a romantic dinner, of course Mere had complained the entire time. He started out with the lemon in the water to the slow service and the loud music. John had finally had had enough when they returned home and Mere was still complaining. Normally John would have found it funny, but tonight it was just irritating.

“Mere, stop right now,” John snapped.

Mere went still and didn’t say a word; he knew he had been pushing it, but he was just so scared that he was using it as his defense.

John sighed, he knew he should not have snapped at Mere, “Come here, baby.” When Mere came to him John pulled him into a hug.

“I’m sorry I snapped. I know that you are scared, but we really don’t have a choice and if we wait any longer they could take you away. Do you want that?”

Mere just shook his head. John started to kiss Mere’s neck moving on to capture his lips in a demanding kiss. Mere was stiff and unresponsive at first. John gently maneuvered him towards the bed, divesting him of his cloths as they went. As John gently pushed him down on the bed he felt Mere shaking. John really hated this, but what could he do?

He started to whisper nonsense to Mere to calm him down. John quickly removed his own cloths and before Mere could roll away John was on top of him, kissing him and demanding entrance. Mere finally relented and opened his mouth for John to explore, John could still feel him trembling, but he pressed on. John was getting harder and harder as he kissed Mere. Mere was slowly becoming hard as John kissed him. John worked to relax Mere as much as he could before he push into him.

John never knew it would feel this good. Mere was tight and perfect, “God, Mere perfect. Love this. Love you. Wanted you from the first…had to hold myself back…” John rambled to Mere. John held himself back until Mere came.

After they were done, John rolled Mere onto his side so that John could spoon up behind him. He wrapped his arms around him and kissed the back of his neck. “Just perfect, baby” John whispered before he fell asleep.

Mere for his part was trying to understand what just happened. John loved him? Mere still found women attractive and yes objectively he knew John was attractive, he just didn’t find him so. Or at least he didn’t think he did, but he did come when they were having sex. It was a very long time before Mere fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.

It had been six weeks since John had made love to Mere for the first time; John had continued to make love to Mere almost every night. Mere was still stiff and tense at first, but he was accepting John’s advances better each time.

John’s father had been matched with a wealth man across the country and although John could approve or not of the match he was only entitled to read the report compiled by the council, he was not allowed to meet the man in person. The council had taken John’s father from the house four weeks ago, it had been hard on Dave. They had thought by now they would hear from their dad, but all had been quiet.

John had just entered his and Mere’s bedroom when he heard Mere vomiting in the bathroom. He grimaced, John was sure that Mere was pregnant. He had been vomiting for the past week at odd times of the day, whoever named it morning sickness must never have experienced it because Mere would vomit at all different times of the day and night. John had made an appointment for them to see the doctor that afternoon. When he entered he bathroom he took a wash cloth and wetted it down and placed it against Mere’s forehead.

“Sorry, baby. We need to leave soon to get to the appointment on time.”

“Yeah…alright. I hate you,” Mere said weakly. John smiled at him and helped him get up.  

John was equally parts excited and terrified. He was going to be a father, but he could already see Mere distancing himself from the situation. Mere had withdrawn from John as soon as it was confirmed that he was pregnant. John was sure that if given the chance Mere would run as soon as he could, but right now he was tied down to John by a baby. John sighed and climbed into bed behind his mate pulling him into his arms.

“I love you, Mere” whispered John.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

John entered the study looking for his pregnant mate; he always had to drag him off to eat or bed. He would forbid him from working on his ‘projects’ but he knew that would only make matters worse. He saw Mere leaning over his work table with hunched shoulders and smiled at him. John walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around Mere’s waist and gently hugged him, “Hey babe it’s time for bed.”

“Just a little longer, John…I’m almost done with this…”

“Mere, it’s after two in the morning. If you weren’t pregnant I would let you, but you have to think about our son.” John could not believe they were going to have a son in just three short months. He nuzzled his mate’s neck and kissed him.

“John, please I,” Mere whined.

“No, baby. Come on. Let’s get some sleep.” Mere sighed, but followed.

Mere climbed into bed finally admitting that he was extremely tired. He felt the bed dip and John pulled him towards him so that Mere was spooned in front of John. Mere had quickly found that this was John’s favorite sleeping position. Mere thought John was proud of having gotten him pregnant so quickly and a son made it even better. Mere was not happy though; he did not want any harm to come to the baby, but he just did not like being pregnant. He felt fat and he was extremely uncomfortable. Mere did not think he would make a good parent either and he certainly did not want to be called mom, he was a man not a woman.

Mere had been having a difficult time sleeping and not just because he was pregnant, he had been thinking a great deal lately. He couldn’t leave yet, but he had heard of a group that helped people like him to get new identities and hide in plain sight from the council. He did not really hate John, this just was not what he wanted for his life.

Three months later John was in the hospital holding his and Mere’s son, Christopher Matthew Sheppard.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few things. I hope that John does not come off as being an ass in this, that is not my intent. Second this story is turning a bit darker than planned, sorry. I do plan an happy ending though. All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.

“Christopher Matthew Sheppard! Get back here, we are not done with your bath” John heard his mate shout at their son.

John walked out of his office and gently scooped up his naked son, kissing him on the forehead. “Are you being a bad boy for your mother,” John asked?

“No, daddy” Chris said.

“Where are you” Mere shouted again.

“He’s here, Mere.”

John winced when his mate came into view, Mere was drenched. John had never seen him look so furious. To head off a classic Mere tirade, John called the nanny to take their son. He has instructed her to finish giving Chris his bath and to put the eighteen month to bed.

John grabbed Mere’s hand and pulled him up the stairs to their bedroom. He could tell that his mate was about ready to blow so John quickly divested him of his wet clothes and started to run the shower. He pushed Mere into the shower and followed him. He started to gently work on cleaning Mere and getting the bubble bath off of him.

By the time John was done cleaning Mere off, John was hard and wanting more. Mere had been reluctant to resume having sex after Chris was born; John had been understanding, but after eighteen months he was a bit less understanding.

John started to kiss Mere slowly at first, but more demanding as they went. He dried them off and started to guide Mere toward the bed. He gently laid Mere down on his back and covered him with his own body. John continued to kiss Mere demanding entrance, but Mere would not open up to him.

John sighed, “Mere, it’s been eighteen months. I need you, baby. Please?”

“Do what you want John” Mere said flatly.

“Do you love me Mere,” John asked?

“John…I never wanted this. I hate that I was made to do this. If we had meet under different circumstances, maybe, but I…just can’t. I’m sorry.”

John rolled off of Mere getting up. He quickly got dressed and left the room. John went down to the gym he had set up a year ago. He needed something to blow off steam. He started the treadmill and ran. He ran for hours. While he ran he thought about what Mere said. He loved Mere so much, but now he knew that his affections might never be returned. When John was too tired to run anymore, he made his way back to his and Mere’s room.

He crawled in between the sheets and pulled Mere to his chest, he would talk to Mere in the morning. John had made a decision; he would ask Mere for one more thing and then he would give him what he wanted, well as much as he could.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This could be read as non-con, but it was not my intent. All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.

When John woke the next morning he did not ask Mere what he had planned. In fact, he waited for an entire week before he confronted his mate. They were in bed together after putting Chris to bed earlier. John was kissing Mere again in the hopes that things would have improved, but Mere was still resistant to his advances.

John pulled back and looked into Mere’s eyes, “Mere I love you…I know that you said you don’t love me, but…look here is what I propose. I want another child and I know I could make you do that, but I also know that you would hate me for that. Give me another child and after it’s born I will leave you alone if that’s what you want. No sex, no more children you can even have your own room if you want. The only thing I will ask is that in front of others you act the part. I won’t even make you stop working anymore.”

Mere blinked at him in surprise. One more child and John would leave him alone that would make his escape much easier. Right now John always held him tight at night that he couldn’t even get up to pee without waking him up. As much as he didn’t want another kid, he wanted his freedom more.

“Alright but you promise, no sex after we conceive.”

“No, I said no sex after the baby was born. I plan on making use of your pregnancy, if you agree. I love you Mere and I love making love to you.”

Mere sighed, “Alright one more child. After the baby I want my own room, but I will play the part in public.”

John smiled big and started to kiss Mere. John was not going to waste his chance. He kissed him until he had to break for air. Soon John had Mere naked and on his back with his legs spread and John was gently thrusting into him. It felt so good after so long.

“Love you…need you…want you…” John kept repeating to Mere. John hoped that Mere would believe it someday.

When they were finished John cleaned them up and pulled Mere so that John was spooned up behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mere is willing in this. He does not see it as non-con in my mind, but as a means to an end. Sorry if this made you hate John, that was not my intent.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.

John found Mere in the bathroom throwing up, again. It had been about six weeks since they found out that Mere was pregnant again. At least the morning sickness should stop soon. He handed Mere a glass of water and a damp wash cloth.

“I really hate you,” Mere said.

“No you don’t baby. You just hate being sick.”

“I’m sick because of you, so I hate you,” Mere said petulantly.

John just smiled at him, kissed the top of his head and pulled him to his feet. “Come on let’s get you into bed and you can rest for a while.”

Mere grumbled but he did climb into bed. John was almost to the bedroom door when Mere asked, “Where are you going?”

“I was going to let you rest while I went on my morning run.”

“Oh, um…would you stay with me?”

This was a new development, up until now Mere had been completely resistant to John being too close to him. John decided to take any advantage he could to win Mere over. He stepped towards the bed and asked, “Do you want me to lie down with you?”

Mere just nodded, so John crawled into bed with him. He decided to not press his luck and waited to see what Mere did. About five minutes later Mere scooted closer to John laying his head on his chest, John wrapped his arm around Mere and started to rub his back gently. John heard Mere’s breathing even out as he drifted to sleep.

When Mere started to wake an hour later, John released his tight hold on him. Mere surprisingly snuggled in closer to him, “Feeling better?”

“Yeah, I think my stomach had decided to calm down for now.”

“Good. How do you feel about a light lunch?”

“Mmmmm,” was the only answer Mere gave John. Mere started to nuzzle closer to John.

John rolled Mere onto his back and lifted himself over him, keeping his weight off of Mere. John started to kiss Mere; Mere opened his mouth to John. They stayed like that for some time, just as John figured they were getting to the best part both he and Mere were started by Chris opening their door and running to jump on their bed. John groaned, but moved away from Mere so Chris could snuggle up to him.

“How many times have I told you to knock before entering a room” Mere demanded.

“Sorry, mommy, but miss you,” Chris replied. John chuckled at that, their son adored Mere.

“How about I find us some food and we can all eat out in the garden” John asked getting up and heading for the door. All he heard was a shout of joy from Chris.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. I really don't like this chapter, but I need it to push the story along. I don't think it is very good. Feedback is welcome.

Things were better in John and Mere’s relationship as Mere’s pregnancy progressed. This time Mere wasn’t pushing John away. Mere was doing better with Chris as well. Mere was tired more often this time, so was more often in bed when John came in.

John found Mere and Chris in their bedroom. Chris had his head in Mere’s lap while Mere read to him.

“Hey, he looks asleep. You want me to put him to bed?”

“Yeah I guess you should. Are you coming to bed after that,” Mere asked shyly?

“Yeah, give me a few.”

When John made it back into their room he found Mere curled up on his side, reading. John slipped into bed with Mere, spooning up behind him and kissed his neck.

“Night, Mere. You going to read for a while?”

“No, just this last page.”

“Okay,” John said and rolled over to go to sleep.

A few minutes later Mere was scooting closer to John; John smiled to himself and rolled over to pull Mere into a kiss. They kissed for a while until John pulled back and asked Mere, “What do you want from me Mere? Do you have feelings for me or is this some obligation?”

“I…I don’t know John. I’m not sure of my feelings, but it’s not an obligation anymore. Please I’m enjoying this.”

John smiled at him, “Alright.”

John pulled Mere into another kiss, this time exploring his mouth. The continued to kiss until a yawn from Mere put a stop to it.

“Come on baby, let’s get some sleep.”

 

Things got even better after this, every night Mere and John would spend what felt like hours kissing. During the day both of them would spend time with Chris in the garden reading or having lunch, Dave would sometimes join them if he was at home. The only shadow over their lives was not having heard from Patrick and Dave’s pending testing.

Mere and David had grown closer to each other as the date approached. John had been working on finding a way out of it, but was still coming up empty. John was worried, but he didn’t have enough power to change anything yet.

It was close to Mere’s due date and John was excited, so was Mere. Mere was happier than John had ever seen. John wasn’t sure if it was Mere finely accepting things or because they were having a daughter. When the doctor told them that, Mere had become more responsive to spending time with the John and Chris.

Six weeks later John couldn’t be happier. He was holding his daughter in his arms. Emily Patricia Sheppard. Mere was resting comfortably and Dave was bring Chris down so he could see his sister. John couldn’t be happier; Mere was talking about wanting another one after Chris and Emily were both potty trained. He hadn’t even mentioned moving out of their room. John was happy for the first time since he found out about being bonded to Mere.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome. I hope that this chapter does not disappoint, but it is a departure from when many probably thought the story was going.

John was tired, it had been a very long day. He entered his house to find his kids ready to pounce on him, coming home to his kids always made John’s day.

“Hey, guys what up?”

“Nothing,” Chris, Em, and Katie said in unison.

John sat with the kids and asked about their day; he spent the few hours left before their bedtime reading and playing with them. As he was putting Katie to bed she kissed him goodnight. That was a first for her, she had not been affectionate with the since she came to live with them. At seven she had had a very hard life, but she was slowly opening up to him. He returned the kiss.

When he returned downstairs to his office he found James there lighting his fire.

“You didn’t need to do that James,” he said.

“I know sir. How did the meeting go?”

“It went well. I believe I have enough votes to bring the entire Mate counsel down. It may take some time to fix all the damage done, but it will happen.”

“Very good sir. I just wish it had happened sooner,” James gave him a sad smile.

“So do I James, so do I.”

Two weeks later John sat with James as they watched the announcement that the governments of the world were going begin investigation the abuses perpetrated by the Mate Counsel. They had decided that there would no longer be forced mating’s. Those in abusive or unwanted relationships would be give their freedom to leave with any children and returned to their families. It was a success, but it had come at a very high cost. John had been forced to review records of abused men who had been basically murdered by their supposed ‘mates.’

It had made John sick. James had been his constant companion for the last eight years. After Mere and Dave disappeared John had been nearly inconsolable, it had been James who had made John realize that he had two children to care for. He had never stopped look for Mere or Dave, but he had not been able to find them. About a year ago he had received a visit from a social worker who brought Katie to him. John had been Katie’s only relative that was suitable to take her in. Her father had been put in prison for murder and child abuse. He had been Patrick’s mate, making Katie John’s sister.

John had taken Katie in without a second thought. He had been devastated to learn that his father was dead, even though his mate had claimed he had not killed him. He insisted that he was still alive and had just run off, but all the evidence lead to the man’s conviction.

John was brought back from his musings by James turning the television off.

“At least Chris will not have to worry about being forced into anything,” James said.

“Yeah, I just wish Mere were here,” John said sadly.

Two days later John received a visit from a man named Woolsey with a job offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise the story does have a happy ending. I really don't like this chapter, I think it is a bit too sad.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter. All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.

Rodney could not believe it when he stepped through the gate into Atlantis. It was beautiful with its blue-green hues. He fell in love with the city immediately. The only thing lacking for him was the damn gene, if he had had that it would have been perfect.

Everything was fine until they realized they were losing power and Weir sent Sumner to find a new planet for them to escape to. Sumner had refused to take Captain Lorne with him. They natives were not receptive to Sumner’s attitude and refused to trade with the expedition. They were lucky though the city rose from the bottom of the ocean just in time.

Since they had arrived in the Pegasus Galaxy the expedition had not exactly made a great many friends. Lorne, who had been with the SGC for years before he joined the expedition had tried to tell both Weir and Sumner they needed to listen to the natives of this galaxy, but it fell on deaf ears. Instead Weir and Sumner had butted heads and very little exploration had been done outside of the city.

The benefit of staying in the city was they were able to study some of the city. Sumner only allowed to explore the living areas of the city. All areas that were shown to be scientific in nature were off limits. Weir had not had a problem with this stratagem as she was interested in the Ancients desire to ascend. Rodney and the other scientists had argued that they had come to the city to learn not just sit around contemplating the universe.

Senior staff meetings became shouting matches between Weir, Sumner and Kavanagh. Well that was according to Lorne and Zelenka, Rodney was not invited to those meetings. Rodney had learned to stay in the background and so his secrets would stay that way. He made friends, but never let anyone get too close to him. He considered Lorne, Zelenka, Daniel Jackson and Carson Beckett his friends on the city.

They had been on the city for about a year when Sumner returned with news that they many have found a ZedPM. Unfortunately, Kavanagh and Sumner could not retrieve it without Zelenka and Rodney’s help. The natives were going to betray the expedition, but Sumner was not impressed with their efforts and got everyone through the gate with the ZedPM. Rodney would have preferred they left it there, now they would make contact with Earth and that could be very bad for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see things are a bit different in this Atlantis. Weir in all honesty was not a character that I really liked.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.

When the gate to Earth opened Rodney was in the lab he shared with Zelenka. Kavanagh had insisted that both scientists had things they needed to complete and could not be in the gate room when the wormhole opened. Rodney did not care, he really was much safer if the gate did not open. It wasn’t that Rodney feared returning home, but he was more concerned for the others that were in hiding. If he was found out they would ask questions and he might be forced to answer them. He was working on his ZedPM project when Zelenka and Keller were called to the gate room.

“I’ll will return McKay. Kavanagh probably messed up computer or something,” Zelenka said.

Rodney just nodded. Kavanagh was an idiot. If Rodney wasn’t so afraid of being found out he would have gone after the chief scientist position, but he just could not take that chance. Zelenka had been offered the job first, but he did not want the responsibility or the headache. Rodney was really in a grove with his research when he was unexpectedly called to the gate room for a meeting. Rodney closed down what he was doing and headed towards the meeting room. When he entered the gate room Lorne was quick to move him into the meeting room and get them seated.

“Oh…good everyone is here,” Weir said. “Now as everyone knows we opened the gate to Earth a few hours ago. We also transmitted our data files to them. The IOA and SGC have requested that I, Colonel Sumner, Drs. Kavanagh and Keller return to earth to attend debriefings as to the continuation of the expedition. In our absence Doctors Zelenka, Beckett, McKay, Jackson and Captain Lorne will fill our positions.”

Rodney blinked at that, he was not expecting this.

Weir continued, “Doctor Zelenka and Captain Lorne will run the city jointly. Captain Lorne of course will be in charge of the military. Doctor Beckett will be running the infirmary and Doctor McKay will be in charge of the scientists jointly with Doctor Jackson. Please do not make any changes regarding the rules the senior staff have already made. Please just care on as we have been. All off world missions will be cancelled until our return in six to eight weeks.”

This was not good, they had trade agreements they needed to keep. The food would not last for the next six to eight weeks. He could see that Lorne and Zelenka had the same thoughts. Beckett was the one to express this issue. “Doctor Weir, I don’t think we have enough food or supplies to last that long without off world missions. I just finished helping Captain Lorne with inventory and we may make three or four weeks, but not past that.”

Weir and Sumner had identical pinched sour lemon faces upon hearing Carson’s pronouncement. Weir sighed, “Very well, I was not aware that our stores were so low. Off world missions, but only to already friendly trade partners. Dismissed.”

Rodney was out the door as quickly as he could. He was headed back to the lab when the others caught up to him and steered him towards Lorne’s quarters. When they entered, Daniel started to rant about stupid feuding bureaucrats.

“Danny, calm down” Lorne said.

Daniel took a slow breath and smiled at Lorne. “Sorry guys, it’s just that this is really stupid. This whole mission has been nothing but the three of them bickering non-stop.”

“Ay, you are correct Daniel. That is why I put an extra message to Mister Woolsey in my report” Carson said.

“How the hell did you manage that,” Lorne asked?

Zelenka spoke up, “That would have been me, yes. I fixed it so that some messages could be hidden in the data stream and only decoded on other side. It was actually Rodney’s idea.”

“Look this is all good, but I really have to go back to work,” Rodney said.

Lorne looked at Rodney and tilted his head, “Rod…what is it? You have been jumpy since we found the ZPM. You know you can tell us. We’re all friend here.”

“I…I…can’t…it could be really bad if I do. I just want to do my job.”

“Rodney, is this about your status,” Carson asked?

Rodney’s eyes went wide at that. “Wha…what are you talking about Carson?”

Carson just rolled his eyes at Rodney. “Rodney, I’ve known about you being a carrier since shortly after we got here. I did your exam with the scanner. It showed everything.”

Rodney started to breath heavily and felt faint at Carson’s statement. It was Lorne and Daniel that got him to sit down and put his head between his legs to calm down.

“That’s it Rodney,” Carson said, “Breathe in…out…in…out…better. I’m sorry Rodney. I thought you knew that I was aware of it.”

Rodney shook his head. When he finally could talk he asked, “Di…Did you tell anyone?”

“No, of course not. I kept a copy of the exam, but replaced it with altered data for the official records. I figured that it was not something you would want out.”

“Thanks Carson…I…I’m not ashamed about it, but it could be really bad for the people who helped hide me. If I’m found others could be found as well and even though my past life was good, others weren’t.”

“I understand, lad.”

“Is that why you have been so jumpy lately,” Daniel asked.

“Yes, I’m only in hiding to protect others…I would have gone home if I could have” Rodney said sadly.

“Alright then,” Lorne said “We keep your secret no matter what. I promise Rod we will make certain no one finds out about it.”

“Thanks, guys. You’re the best,” Rodney said as he relaxed when the others nodded their heads in agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if you noticed but I really, really don't like Weir. I also really did not like Keller either. I liked the actress when she was on 'Firefly', but on SGA *UGH* I did not like her. Sorry if you like Keller or Weir.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.

General Jack O’Neill was rolling his eyes. He was sitting in a meeting with the four heads of the Atlantis Expedition and members of the IOA. For once the IOA representative was making his life easy; he could kiss Woolsey for his assistance right about now.

The four chuckle heads that made up the senior staff of the expedition were still arguing about who should determine what. Jack was wondering who put these four in charge. Well Keller wasn’t too bad, just super young. Now Jack was trying to figure out how to fix the mess without major upsets. He really did not want to lose any people from the SGC to Atlantis, but he might have to give some up to fix this mess.

He was making lists of who to shift to Atlantis and what to do with the replacements. He could only remove the military personnel the IOA would have to deal with the civilian personnel, but he could make some suggestions. He was almost done with his ideas when Woolsey called an end to the meeting for the day. Everyone filed out except O’Neill and Woolsey.  

“Alright Richard, what do you think?”

“This is a nightmare. I would be able to replace Doctor Kavanagh without much fuss, but the rest will be difficult.”

“Well, I can pull Sumner, but I will not be able to replace him with Lorne since he is only a captain. I can get him a promotion to major, but I doubt they will want a major running a base.”

“Who would you put in his place?”

“My short list: Caldwell, Carter, or Mitchell. I think they will all want Caldwell, but I’m not certain he is the right fit either.”

“I could probably sell Mitchell to the IOA Committee. Carter would be more difficult; she is too much of an expert on Goa’uld technology and the Stargate itself.”

“Alright, I’ll approach Mitchell about it. What can you do about Weir?”

Richard sighed, “Not much. She is still well liked. I might be able to replace her as leader, but keep her as a diplomatic advisor or ambassador. I have a candidate in mind; however, he will need special accommodations.”

“What is he handicap?”

“Oh…no he just would not go without his family. He has three children and a personal assistant that he will not leave behind. He might not take either as it is somewhat dangerous.”

“What’s his name?”

Woolsey gave O’Neill a smile that would leave lesser men shaking in their shoes, “John Patrick Sheppard.”

“Get approval,” O’Neil said with finality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to make Richard Woolsey likable. I thought that he actually evolved as a character in the show from when we first saw him on SG-1; I hope that it worked. There are a lot of things happening behind the scenes in this story. If you think you are missing something it probably hasn't been written yet.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta ncisgirl2014. All remaining mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.

Jack was stuck in another meeting with the idiots or as others liked to call them the heads of the Atlantis Expedition. He really hoped that Woolsey could convince Sheppard to join, because if he had to put up with these idiots much longer he might just shoot someone, like one of them and that would be very bad. He might get into trouble and the paperwork was a bitch.

He had already spoken to Mitchell about taking over as Military head. He was concerned, but receptive to the idea. Jack decided to begin working on the supply list that he needed to approve. He was scanning the military lists first. He was looking at the ordnances requests which seemed to be in line with what they had already used, but would be inadequate if they were to really start off world missions as he wished.  

“Colonel Sumner could you explain your request for ordnances? It would seem a bit low for the increase to military personnel that you requested.” Jack questioned.

“The increase in military personnel will be to expand our exploration of the city, sir.”

“Understood, Colonel.”

Jack let the others begin questioning Sumner regarding increasing missions off world. Jack was interested in what the natives referred to as the Wraith. He was hoping that Keller would have more medical information on them, but it seemed her report was all based off of native stories. Jack didn’t want to send people out in a dangerous situation without the proper intel if he could help it. When the meeting finally broke up Jack made a beeline for the mess hall; he really needed coffee and a bowl of Fruit Loops™.  

It wasn’t until two days and five meetings later that he heard from Woolsey. Sheppard was interested, but like Woolsey had predicted he refused to leave his kids or assistant. He had gained some notoriety for his work on equal rights for the carriers. Unfortunately, for him it was not all positive attention. He had hired private tutors for his kids and had had to bring in private security to protect him and his family. This might be a great way to get him to Atlantis and protect them from zealots. Jack had requested that Woolsey bring him to the mountain, but Sheppard had refused and offered to meet at his home in Virginia.      

Several days later Jack was entering John Sheppard’s home with Woolsey on a mission to recruit Sheppard for the Atlantis expedition. They were shown into a richly furnished home office.

“Gentlemen, please have a seat. Would you care for something to drink?”

“No, thank you Mr. Sheppard,” Woolsey said. Jack just shook his head.

“Please call me John,” Sheppard smiled at them. Jack realized how young the man was.

“John,” Woolsey began “We would like to offer you the job of a life time. You have already signed the NDA and been vetted. All we need is for you to say yes. What can we offer to make this happen?”

“Yeah what he said,” Jack smirked at him.

John gave a smirk before he answered, “As you can see I’m not in need of money or anything material. What you can offer me is help. I need to find someone and I have been unsuccessful so far.”

Jack was shocked by that he figured that anyone with Sheppard’s money and contacts would not need their help. But if it got him on board he would take it.

“Who are you looking for?” Jack asked.

“My mate.”

“Your mate?”

“Yes and my brother.”

“Why?”

John raised an eyebrow at that. He figured it was obvious as to why. “The both went missing around the same time. I have reason to believe that they ran to protect my brother from being sent to live with someone he didn’t want, like our father. I’m not asking for you to find them before I agree to your proposal, just your assurances that you will make every effort and if you locate them will pass on the information to me.”

“And if your mate does not want to come back to you?” Woolsey asked.

John sighed, “I’ll let him go, but I think he should be allowed to at least see his children again. I do not plan on breaking any of the new law regarding carriers. I love him, but if he doesn’t want anything to do with me, I shall respect it.”

“I think we can do that for you. Anything else you would like?” Jack asked.

John tilted his head as he thought, “Yes I want you to also search for my father. I know that he was reported as deceased, but I have my doubts. I feel his daughter deserves to know who he is.”

Jack smiled and nodded to him. “If that is all, then I believe we have a deal,” Woolsey stated.

“Yes we do Mr. Woolsey,” Sheppard replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are getting closer to Rodney and John seeing each other again. I apologize if John comes off as OOC.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is much appreciated.

John wondered why he had wanted to take this job. He was sitting in a meeting with the military leader, the soon to be former expedition leader, the soon to be former chief scientist and the head doctor. The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it. They were waiting on Woolsey and O’Neil to show. John could tell that the four department heads wanted to know why he was in the meeting.

General Landry kept looking at his watch, John was sure that all of them in the meeting were wondering why he was here. If the looks he was getting were any indications he was certain that some of them did not like him. Great just what he needed more people who hate him. John was one of the most vilified people on the planet right now. Since the legislation passed giving carriers rights John had been burned in effigy more time then he could count, and he could count pretty damn high.

Finally, O’Neil and Woolsey came into the room. “Ah…Good…good everyone is here,” Woolsey said. He continued, “Forgive our delay in arriving, but General O’Neil and I had some important issues to discuss. General.”

“Let’s get down to business,” O’Neil started. “First off with the approval of both the IOA and the President we have come up with some changes that will be happening for the expedition. Now, I’m sure all of you know who that guy is” O’Neil pointed towards John. “John Sheppard has agreed, with some conditions, to take over as expedition leader.”

The room erupted into chaos. Everyone was shouting over each other. Weir was saying that the President would never agree to it. Sumner was angry as Sheppard was some young upstart who had no clue as what to do with a situation like theirs. Kavanagh was yelling that they could not replace him and what did Sheppard know about science and exploration anyway.

After nearly five minutes of shouting John had had enough; he slammed his hand down on the table and shouted “Enough!” The entire room went silent; John could see the smirk on Woolsey and O’Neil’s faces. John took a deep breath to calm himself down.

“Look, I might not know all this issues you are facing out there, but I will learn. As for being too young, I’ve been running Sheppard Industries since I was sixteen. I have even made it grow since it took over. As for your jobs I was under the impression that I would get to choose who was working for the expedition. My belief is that until you prove otherwise you should keep your jobs, even if they are in a different area. Now everyone will sit down and we can get down to business.” John figured he might as well treat this like one of his board meetings. It had been difficult for him at first when he took over Sheppard Industries, because the board had wanted to control him. He had had to make a strong stance from the start to ensure he was not walked all over. He wasn’t surprised when everyone finally took their seats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that John is OOC, but I hope that I'm keeping him consistent with where he started in this story.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome. This is the second post for today 5/15.

After almost two weeks of meetings and reviews, John was finally being beamed aboard the _Daedalus_ with his kids and James his personal assistant. John was not going to leave James on Earth by himself for fear of repercussions for having been part of the new legislation. The kids were excited when John informed them of their new adventure they would be going on. He had not told them that part of the deal was the Air Force and IOA would be looking for their mothers. He did not want to get their hopes up if they could not be found or if they did not want anything to do with them. John was greeted by Colonel Caldwell when he beamed aboard, and how cool was that his inner geek was jumping up and down with excitement.

“Mr. Sheppard.”

“Colonel, these are my children Christopher, Emily and Kathrine Sheppard. James here is my personal assistant and help with the children. I promise to keep them out of your hair and away from the dangerous parts of the ship. It would be great if we could use the ships gym so they aren’t too cooped up for the next eighteen days. Also, is everyone aboard?”

“Of course Mr. Sheppard. Yes, we have beamed the others aboard as well as the new personnel that will be going to Atlantis. The airman here will show you around and to your quarters.”

John just nodded his head and followed behind the airman. John was lost in thought as they were lead to their rooms. He hoped he would find Miko on the ship soon. Doctor Miko Kusanagi was one of his ‘finds’ when he first took over Sheppard Industries. Miko was young, but brilliant when he found her trying to work her way up. She had been one of Sheppard Industries new engineers and had been working as an assistant on a project; when John found her arguing with the project lead and winning he fired the project lead and promoted Miko. She had been his top engineer since and a close friend.

The airman opened the door to the quarters they would be using for the next eighteen days and John was shocked that they were a bit larger and would work for him and the kids. James he could see would be getting the room next to theirs.

“Sir, I was told to inform you that Doctor Kusanagi is in the room next to your assistants. If you need anything else sir please let me know."

“Thank you airman…”

“Peterson, sir.”

“Thank you Airman Peterson,” John said. John had learned early on it was wise to learn the names of everyone he could. Even if they worked in the mailroom or were the janitor; you never knew when their assistance would be needed. John followed the kids into the room to get everyone settled in.

“Alright kids, let’s behave ourselves. I know being cooped up will be a pain, but it is only eighteen days. You all have school work you can do and games to play. Why don’t you get some of it out while I go find Aunt Miko?”

“Okay, Daddy” the kids chorused.

John went next door and knocked hoping that Miko was in her cabin. When she opened the door she jump up and hugged him.

“You are the best boss ever. You take me on the best trips. Have you gotten a tour of the ship yet?”

John just smiled at her and patted her back. “No, not yet.”

Miko released John; she hoped that no one saw her hug him as she did not want rumors starting.

“Sorry, I’m just so excited. This ship is completely awesome.”

“Hey, it’s alright. You know you are one of my closest friends. Well you and James are probably my only friends.”

She smiled sadly at him. She knew that John had had a pretty lonely life. After he was forced to mate he was left with little time for friends and fun. She had plans to make his life far more fun when they got to Atlantis. She hoped that things would be better for him there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was writing this and realized that John really didn't have anyone other than his kids. So, I decided to give him a few friends and Miko came to mind.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome. This is the third post for the day 5/15.

Astonishingly, the eighteen days aboard the ship went fairly quickly. John was working on reviewing personnel files of all expedition members including the military. He had not been happy when the IOA had failed to approve Mitchell’s appointment as military head in favor of keeping Sumner. On the bright side John had been able to get Mitchell as second in command of Atlantis’s military contingent with him being head of off world operations and the new leader of the AR-1.

They would be approaching Atlantis orbit in less than five hours. John already had the kids packed and ready to go. He was just trying to wade through some last minute paper work that needed attention before they reached their destination. He was in his quarters reading when there was a knock on his door. He opened it to find Cameron Mitchell smiling at him.

“Colonel,”

Mitchell rolled his eyes and nodded his head to indicate that he wished to enter. John moved to the side to allow it.

“What can I do for you Colonel?”

“Well, you could start by calling me either Cam or Mitchell when we are alone. Colonel is too formal.”

John smiled at this, “Alright, if you’ll call me John. I would prefer that over Sheppard.”

Mitchell nodded his head.

“So what can I do for you Cam?”

“I was wondering if we could discuss the reallocation of military personnel at some point.”

“Of course. I wanted to schedule a meeting with you, Sumner and his two top people as soon as possible. I was just going over all of the current personnel on the city.”

“Good, thank you John.”

John sighed, “You already asked Sumner and he turned you down.”

Mitchell ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

“You don’t have to answer. I really had hoped that he would change his views, but that was just wishful thinking.”

“You know I shouldn’t say this, but he is going to give you problems.”

John just smiled, “Cam I’ve been dealing with problems since I was sixteen. I can handle him and Weir. Thanks for the heads up though.”

“I had better go.”

John nodded and closed the door behind Mitchell. John knew that Sumner would give him problems, but he was prepared. He did not take crap from anyone. He realized that they should be entering orbit of Atlantis soon and he had better get ready. He quickly cleaned up and packed the remaining items. He double checked that he and the kids hadn’t left anything behind. As soon as he was done he headed up to the bridge, per Caldwell’s request.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.

John made it to the bridge just as they entered orbit.  It was amazing, the planet was mostly water with one large continent but they could see the city from orbit it was huge. 

“How large is the city?” John asked.

“One scientist estimates at around the size of Manhattan,” Caldwell replied.

“Wow, I’m impressed.”

“Are you ready to beam down, Mr. Sheppard?”

“I was under the impression that you would be landing the ship, Colonel.”

“We will be, but the senior staff was requested to be beamed down first.  I figured you would want your children to be with you so they will be beamed down as well.”

“I appreciate that Colonel.  What of the others?”  John realized that his kids and James were now on the bridge as well. 

“They were beamed down as soon as we arrived, per their request.  The only ones remaining are the new staff.  Colonel Mitchell and Doctor Kusanagi will be joining you shortly, to beam down as well.”

John just sighed, he had informed the senior staff that he wanted all of them to arrive at the same time.  This was not a very good start on their relationships.  He figured before the first few months were up he would have to replace most of the senior staff just so they could get some work done.  John nodded towards Caldwell to signal that they were all ready to transport down.

It was an odd sensation; the beam technology, but when John stood in the gate room he felt an odd buzzing in the back of his head.  He shook his head to clear it and looked around him.  It was beautiful with stain glass windows that rose almost the entire height of the room.  He turned and saw the senior staff up on what he presumed was a balcony.  He signaled James to keep the children with him and motioned for Miko to follow him up the staircase that was the focal point to the room.  As he climbed up the stairs they started to light up, he knew immediately that this was an unusual occurrence as everyone in the room started to become excited.

“I take it that this doesn’t happen every day,” John said.

“No, no it does not.  You have gene.  He has gene.  Who is he?” an excited wild haired man with glasses asked.

“I’m John Sheppard, the new expedition leader and you are?”

“Oh…um Doctor Radek Zelenka second in charge of science department.”

“Ah, I read your file Doctor Zelenka.  This is Doctor Miko Kusanagi, she is my top engineering advisor.  I take it that I have the ancient gene.”

“Ano, ATA gene.  Did they not test you on Earth?”

“No, we really didn’t have time.  They just ran the normal medical test and physicals.  Why don’t we discuss all of this some other time.  I would like to meet the second in commands.”

“Of course, forgive me, but you have gene…”

A young man, who John immediately took as military step forward and diverted Zelenka’s attentions.

“Doc Z. you can get him to turn on all kinds of stuff later alright?”

“Ano, Ano Captain.”

John turned to Weir, “Doctor, is there a conference room we could all meet in?”

“Yes, the large conference room should fit all of us,” Weir said with a tight smile on her face.

“Lead the way,” John said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know everyone is just waiting for Rodney and John's reunion. I promise that it will happen soon.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome. Second post for the day, but it is really short.

“Wouldn’t you like to take the time to get your children settled?” Weir asked.

John gave his best diplomatic smile, “Actually, they will be fine sitting in the meeting.  I’m sure there is plenty of room on the floor for them to work on.  Kids you have school work to do still?” John said.

“Yes, Daddy,” the kids replied in unison.  John nodded his head; turned to Weir to encourage her to show him the way.  After a short trip they entered a large room with a round table they could all sit at.  John nodded his approval.  As soon as everyone took their seat John began the meeting. 

“Hello, as some of you already know, I’m John Sheppard of Sheppard Industries.  These are my children Christopher, Emily, and Katie Sheppard.  This is my personal assistant James and my tech advisor Dr. Miko Kusanagi.  I was appointed to replace Doctor Weir as expedition leader.  Doctor Weir will be remaining as our official Ambassador to the natives of Pegasus.  I have emailed all of you a list of areas of concern that both the SGC and IOA have.  Over the next several weeks we will be addressing these issues.  I want to meet with each of you individually before the end of the first week.”  Here John paused to make certain that everyone was looking at him, “I will take all concerns seriously.  If someone is not suited for a position, I will try to reassign them.  If reassignment is not possible they will be sent back to Earth on the _Daedalus_ ; however, grudges are not welcome on this city.  You have a problem with a co-worker you find a way to fix it; you do not want me involved, because if I become involved no one will like the outcome.  Share that with your staff; I will not tolerate in-fighting.  Am I understood?”  John was happy to see that everyone was nodding, even if some were scowling at him as well.  “First off,” John continued, “I would like to meet with the military personnel.  Colonel Sumner will you please have your second as well as, Lieutenant Ford and Sargent Bates report here.  Doctor Weir who is in charge of room assignments?”

“That would be Doctor Peter Grodin he is my right hand man.  Well I should say he was my right hand man,” Weir said with a condescending smile. 

“Could you please contact him and make arrangements for the new staff’s quarters.  I also need someone to escort Miko and the kids to them for me.”

“I’ll take care of that for you sir.  I’ll also get you a radio,” Captain Lorne spoke up quickly.

“Thank you Captain,” John replied.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ncisgirl2014 was the beta for this chapter and I would like to thank her. All remaining mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome. Sorry it is a really short chapter.

John spent the next several days in meetings trying to bring everyone up to speed on the changes he wanted to make.  He wanted more off world missions and more alliances with the natives of Pegasus.  He also wanted to revisit some planets that had not taken too kindly to Sumner’s heavy hand and condescension.  He had been working with the military mostly, but he had wanted to get them straightened out before he began working with the scientists.  

John was extremely happy that several people seemed appreciative that he was on the city and had taken over as Expedition Leader, unfortunately not everyone was happy.  Miko had had some problems with some of the scientists and her desire to get to know them, but Radek had been quite receptive to her excitement and questions.  As it turned out, Miko also had the ATA gene and that made Radek thrilled.  John had let Miko explore the science division, but made it clear that she was not the new CSO; for the time being it would remain Kavanagh until John could find a reason to terminate the man. 

John was extremely grateful for Mitchell, he and Loren got along wonderfully and it made his job much easier.  He had been working with them on starting off world missions again and which gate address to try first; John was insistent that he wanted to return to some of the worlds that had not been too receptive to their presences.  Lorne had suggested that they travel to Athos as the first planet, because the natives did seem to want to trade.  John had tentatively scheduled the mission for the following week.

He had also had meeting with Sumner and Bates, while he actually liked Bates, Sumner was getting ridiculous in his demands.  Sumner did not want to explore any new parts of the city and just continue to live and work in the existing sections.  John was trying to get the man to understand that they were there to learn not be complacent.  Sumner was also opposed to allowing civilians off world, John had been adamant that they would need the scientist to go off world and help with the technology they found.  John knew the biologists, the botanists, the geologists and all the other scientists could not study things that were brought back without seeing the original location; he had read some of the mission reports from the SGC and what bringing something back through the gate could do.  John wanted to start and maintain an Alpha and Beta sites with research possibilities, so some of the things could be studied away from their main group of people.  He was aware that they would lose people, but he wanted to try and minimize the damage.

John had scheduled meetings with everyone on the city except the elusive Doctor McKay; he planned on tracking the man down. When he found him, he was going to tell him that he was not allowed to name anything anymore; Gateships was a terrible name for the small ships that could traveled through the gate, Puddle Jumpers was a much better name. John made the name change quickly.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome. All of you will probably be mad at me for how the chapter ends. Sorry for the delay in updating this story; kind of got sidetracked with another story in the NCIS fandom.

The door to Daniel’s room opened, he and Evan practically tumbled onto the floor as the kisses they shared became more heated.  The room was fairly dark, the only light coming from the cracks in the curtains covering the windows.  Daniel guided Evan towards the bed, trying to undress him as they moved.  He moved from Evan’s lips down to his neck and started to suck on his pulse point making Evan moan.

“Danny, please,” Evan begged.

“Please, what Ev?” Daniel asked.

“Oh…more, please,” he moaned.

Daniel continued sucking as he moved to reach under Evan’s shirt to find his very sensitive nipples.  He rubbed them to hard points rotating between his neck and his lips; one hand moved down to gently squeeze Evan’s dick.  He moaned even louder and Daniel captured it with a kiss to send Evan to his knees. When they reached the bed, Daniel pushed Evan down on it; just as he was about to lay his head on the bed Evan felt it shift behind him making him jump up and almost knock Daniel on his ass.  Evan mentally turned the lights in the room up; there on the bed was Rodney, sound asleep. 

He quickly turned to face Daniel; narrowing his eyes he accused, “What the fuck, Daniel?  Trying to make it a threesome?”

Daniel’s eyes widened in shock, he raised his hands in supplication, “Hey, I didn’t even know he was here.  He was supposed to be staying with Carson.”

Evan ran his hand through his short hair; he gave Daniel an apologetic smile, “Sorry, Danny.  I just…I’ve had some bad experiences with men trying to force me into things I’m not comfortable with.  You know this thing of Rodney sleeping in one of our rooms every night, to avoid Sheppard has got to stop.”

“Ev, you have to know that I would never do that to you.  I…” Daniel walked over to him, pulling him into his arms before continuing, “I…fuck, I’m a linguist you would think I could say this.”  He stopped and took a deep breath before he tried again, “I love you Evan Lorne.  I would never do anything to break the trust you have given me.”

Evan stared at Daniel with wide eyes after his declaration; he had suspected Daniel had feelings for him, but he never knew the depths of those feelings.  His shock turned to awe and trepidation at the turn their relationship was taking; when they had first started to sleep together, it was for fun and stress release, but over the last few months Evan had seen a shift in Daniel’s behavior towards him.  Evan smiled at him and rested his forehead against Daniel’s, “I love you, too.  I’m just worried that if Sumner gets wind of us he will have me shipped back to Earth.”

Daniel kissed him gently, “Don’t worry about him.  If he tries, I think that Jack and Sheppard will stop him.  Now, what the hell are we going to do about Rodney?”

Evan bit his lower lip, “I have an idea, but it could back fire.  It might piss Rodney off.”

“We have to do something, he can’t keep avoiding Sheppard.”

“Okay, what I need you to do is…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise I will try to update soon.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how this happened, but this chapter was total missed in being posted. This is the correct chapter 24 and the old 24 is actually 25. Sorry about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.

John looked up when the door to his office chimed, he could see Doctor Daniel Jackson standing on the other side of it.

“Enter,” he said as he mentally opened the door; he loved this city.

“Mister Sheppard,” Doctor Jackson said.

“What can I do for you today, Doctor Jackson?” John asked.

Jackson smiled at him, “Well, you could just call me Daniel, for starters.”

John returned the smile, “Alright, but only if you call me John when we are in an informal setting.”

Daniel nodded his head, “John, I was wondering if you would like to have lunch with me today. I would love to discuss the upcoming missions and what we could offer the Pegasus natives.”

John glanced at his watch, he did not have any more meetings planed until the late afternoon; “I would love to have lunch with you. How about now?”

“Perfect,” Daniel smiled.

“So, Daniel, what did you want to discuss about the upcoming missions?”

“I wanted to throw my name in as a member of the mission to Athos. I believe I could make a contribution to it; I already have off world experience, I can protect myself, I’m a linguist, and an anthropologist.”

“Well, I was actually going to ask you if you wished to join the mission, but thank you for the sales pitch it will help with Sumner. He can’t argue against it, you were on the flagship team at the SGC for years before this mission came up. You also helped save the world, a few times.”

“Oh… I kind of thought it would be a harder sell,” Daniel said sheepishly.

John laughed, “No, I did do my homework before coming here. I wonder what is for…” John stopped walking to stare at the table before him. He could not believe that he had to come to an entirely different galaxy to find his mate, but there he was sitting at a table with Lorne and Beckett. Without being aware, John moved towards the table, leaving a very satisfied Daniel in his wake. As he approached the table he noticed that Meredith realized he was in the room; Meredith started to look around for an escape route, but John was not going to let him escape, not this time.

John reached the table as Meredith was backing away from it; he reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving. Pulling him into his arms, John hugged him tightly, whispering his name. When John pulled back, he looked down at him to see that Meredith’s eyes were wide with shock.

John smiled at him, “I… I… what happened… why did you leave? I have too many questions to ask. You’re here and alive,” he pulled back to put Meredith at arms-length, looked him up and down, “You look good, baby. I missed you. We need to… come to my office so we can talk, please,” John finished realizing that they had gained an audience.

Meredith opened his mouth to speak, but instead just nodded his head and allowed John to wrap his arm around him pulling him from the mess hall.

“Well now, that went better than I expected,” Carson said as Daniel reached the table.

Daniel and Lorne just nodded their heads in agreement.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.
> 
> Sorry for the delay in updating, but the story just wasn't flowing.

John awoke with his mate wrapped in his arms. He nuzzled his neck wanting to memorize his scent; he glanced at his watch and grimaced, he had a meeting in just under an hour. He sighed, he wanted to stay wrapped around the man in his arms forever, but he had responsibilities. He had always had responsibilities; John could barely remember a time when someone did not depend on him. He felt the man in his arms begin to shift, rolling him so he was on his back, John held himself over him and looked down into the blue eyes he had missed so much.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” his mate said, shyly.

John leaned down and gave him a kiss; he had intended for it to be chaste, but as soon as his lips touched the other man’s he lost all thought of it. He turned the kiss heated and before he realized it, he had his tongue in his mate’s mouth. Rodney moaned and John lost all composure; he lowered himself down, so he fully covers his lover, aligning their dicks in the process. He grabbed the other man’s hands and raised them above their heads entwining their fingers as he continued to thrust against his mate. Never once breaking the kiss, his mate began to thrust up to meet his downward thrusts; eventually neither man could stop from coming, as John ripped his mouth away from Rodney’s he bit down on the other man’s neck, making both of them scream as they came in their pants.

Panting John buried his face in Rodney’s neck; wanting to apologize for what just happened, but not sure how. He was surprised when he felt Rodney wrap his arms around his back and begin to rub up and down trying to soothe him. “I’m sorry, baby, I should have had better control,” John said.

Rodney just hugged him tighter, kissing is sweaty temple, “John, I didn’t say no. I missed you, too. I think I could try to make things work with you, but I can’t do it if you want me to not work. I like working, it makes me happy.”

“I told you before, I’m not going to stop you from doing your job. I just want you around as much as possible. I—shit,” John said as his alarm went off on his watch. He needed a shower and a change of clothes, before his meeting. Smiling at his mate, “I have a meeting in ten minutes. I’m going to be late; have dinner with me?”

Rodney nodded, but looking pensive, he asked, “what about the kids?”

Leaning down and capturing his mate’s lips, he kissed him before pulling back, “we’ll work on it. Have dinner with me, please?”

“Okay.”

“Good, I have to go,” he said, getting off his mate and finding his headset, he reluctantly left his mate. He needed to change before his meeting; he headed towards his quarters radioing James to hold the meeting for a few moments. John entered his quarters quickly wiping himself off and changing into clean clothes; he left the room headed towards his meeting.

***************

John hated meetings; it was two hours since the meeting started and they were no closer to resolving the issue than before. If he listened to one more argument about the mission Mitchell’s team was go on he was going to scream. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply and bringing the meeting to a close quickly, he said, “Enough—Colonel Mitchell you are clear for your mission to Athos. Doctor Weir you will go as our diplomatic liaison to these people. Have a meet and greet with them, learn about this great enemy, if you can. Dismissed.”

John waited until the room emptied to turn to James, “I found him.”

“Who?”

“Mere.”

“What? Where?”

“Here on Atlantis. His is going by the name Doctor Rodney McKay.”

“Wait, isn’t that the scientist you were looking to find?”

“Yep, I found him—well, actually, Doctor Jackson led me to him.”

“What happened?”

“We talked and—um—other things.”

“Fuck, you slept with him. John, why?”

“Why do you think, James? I love him. He’s still my mate; the mother of my children. What do you want me to do?”

“Not let him hurt you, again,” James whispered.

John closed his eyes, remembering that James was his friend and only looking out for him; “he won’t hurt me James. He only left to protect Dave. He might even have a way to find Dave.”

“All right, John, I’ll let it rest for now, but if I think for a minute that…”

“Yeah, I get it. Look, I’m having dinner with him, tonight. Could you stay with the kids?”

“All night?”

“Probably.”

“Fine,” James said, as he left the room.

John sighed, he wondered if he could find flowers or coffee bean to bring to Rodney. He shut his laptop down, grabbing it and leaving the room, he headed back to his quarters to change for dinner with his mate.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome. I hope that this doesn't disappoint.

John dragged Meredith through the hallways of Atlantis, looking for a place to talk. He felt Meredith pull his arm back trying to get his attention; he stopped and took a deep breath before turning towards his mate.

“Meredith, what is it?”

“We can talk in my room. It’s only a few doors down from here,” he pointed ahead of them.

Not saying a word, he began walking again with Meredith behind him. When they reached his room, John had him open it, but refused to relinquish his hold on him. He could see Meredith roll his eyes in exasperation.

As soon as the door closed, John pulled Meredith to face him, bringing their bodies flush and kissing him. John quickly turned the kiss from simple to forceful by forcing his tongue into Meredith’s mouth; he was rewarded with a moan from Meredith. He continued to kiss him until the need for air became urgent. Pulling back to breath, John looked down at him and said, “Talk.”

Meredith narrowed his eyes at him, “First off, I’m not a trained pet, John. Second off, will you please let me go?”

“No.”

“John, I’m not your possession,” Meredith began to struggle to get free.

“Stop,” John held him tighter. “Meredith, stop.”

“My name is Rodney, not Meredith,” he said with vehemence.

John narrowed his eyes at his mate, but released his hold on him after kissing his forehead, “You’re right, I’m sorry. I just missed you so much and I’m afraid that if I let you go, I’ll never see you again.”

Meredith sighed, “John, I’m not going anywhere. Just sit down and we can talk.”

John nodded and sat on the bed next to him.

“I’m sorry, John. I didn’t want to leave, but I knew Dave would be taken and I just couldn’t let that happen. I…I had every intention of returning to you, but the group that help us insisted that for Dave and all the others to stay safe I needed to disappear as well. They said, if I went back I could be forced to tell where the others went and give information that would shut down the underground network. I just couldn’t take the chance. I’m so sorry.”

It was what John had thought. Meredith, his Meredith, had wanted to stay with him, but needed to help his brother. He sighed and he nuzzled Meredith’s neck and wrapped his arm around him; he needed to be sure that Meredith still wanted to be with him, “Are you asking me to release you? The new law states that if you want to be released from our arrangement you can be.”

“John, did you find someone else?”

John was shocked by Meredith’s odd question, “Why would you ask that?”

“Um, well your ‘personal assistant,’ and you have another kid. I’m really not interested in a threesome or to be part of some harem.”

John almost laughed at Meredith, but he refrained, “James is just a good friend and as for the other child, she is my dad’s daughter. She is my sister; we rescued her from her father after he was convicted of killing dad and child abuse.”

“What?” Meredith shouted.

“Yeah, dad’s mate was very abusive. I was the only relative that child services felt was a good placement for Katie. I never could find anyone to replace you, Meredith.”

He sighed again, “Please, don’t call me that.”

John rolled his eyes, but said, “Sorry, Rodney.”

“Thank you. I don’t want things to return to the way they were when we were younger. I want to continue with my job here. I just can’t be some house husband, John.”

John smiled at him, “I’m not going to ask you to stop working, Mer…Rodney. Just…I just want you back in our lives. I do want…um…other things, but we can work on those.”

Rodney narrowed his eyes at him, “As in sex.”

John’s eyes widened, “Um…yes as in sex. I love you, M…Rodney. I haven’t stopped. I know I promised that you could have a room by yourself, and I’ll hold to that, but if you want to be a real couple, I would like that.”

“We’ll see, John,” Rodney cuddled into John’s side more, enjoying the warmth and security.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.
> 
> Okay, sorry for the delay in getting anything posted on this story. This is a short chapter, but I plan on longer ones soon.

John arrived at Mer…Rodney’s quarters, with a small bag of coffee beans. He had found them among the items he had brought with him from Earth. He was nervous; they might be married, but they really didn’t know each other. When Rodney opened the door John felt a desire to grab his mate and kiss him, but he refrained and just smiled at him.

“Hey, what’s that?” Rodney asked.

“Oh, um… coffee beans,” John said, he was assured he had brought the right gift for his mate if his wide eyes and grabby hands were any indication.

“Gimme,” Rodney said.

“Miss coffee. I know there is coffee here since you reconnected with earth.”

“Yeah, well, this is the good stuff. You always did have the good coffee.”

“Ready for dinner?”

“Oh… yeah.”

John grabbed Rodney’s hand and entwined their fingers and pulled him towards the door. They walked in silence towards the mess hall, when they entered silence fell around the room. John just continued to walk towards the food line and grabbed two trays. After loading the trays, they found a secluded table to eat at. They ate in silence until Rodney asked, “what do you want from me, John?”

John was silent for a time, finally grabbing Rodney’s hand he absently stroked it as he spoke, “I want you Rodney. I want us back together, but I know that we need to get to know each other again. Give us a chance, if you don’t think it will work out after that, then I’ll back off and leave you alone. We can work out custody of the kids then.”

“You would willingly let me go, John?”

“Yeah, I love you, but I won’t hold you against your will, Rodney.”

“Um… I’m willing to try,” he said, shyly.

“So, tell me about your life after you left,” John said.

******

As John and Rodney left the mess hall, neither one noticed that several people watched them leave. Doctor Weir slipped into the seat next to James. She smiled at him and patted his hand in a sympathetic gesture.

“It’s hard to see someone you care about make a mistake, isn’t it,” Weir said.

James turned toward the woman and gave her a cynical smile, “yeah, but whatever you are trying to get out of me, isn’t going to happen. I won’t turn on John,” he said, as he stood and left the room.

“Well that didn’t work,” Sumner smirked, as he place a cup of coffee in front of Weir.

“Yes, sort of fell flat. We’ll have to try a different tactic.”

“Yes, I have a few ideas.”

Weir just smirked at him.

******

Rodney opened his door to let them in to his quarters; he wanted to send John back his own quarters, but the man didn’t seem to want to let go of him.

“John, you should go back to your quarters.”

John just nuzzled Rodney’s neck wrapping his arms around the man from behind, “Rodney, I want to spend the night with you, please.”

“John, I’m not sure if that is a good idea. We need to get to know each other better first.”

John sighed, “I know, how about we watch a movie or something and if you still want me to leave when we are done, I’ll leave.”

“Okay.”

Two hours later, John smiled as Rodney cuddled up to his side and yawned. “Ready for bed, baby?”

“Mm, yeah,” he slid down, as John followed him and wrapped his arms around the man and spooned behind him.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.

John stared at his three children and smiled. He knew he needed to find a full time nanny for them, but it was hard to find someone who had the right security clearance and was willing to help take care of three young children. It had been almost three weeks since he had found Rodney again and he had to tell his children about him, but he was uncertain of their reactions.

“What’s wrong, Dad,” Chris asked.

John sighed, out of all the children, he thought Chris might remember his mother, even if only flashes of memories existed. “I wanted to talk to the three of you about someone I met here.”

Chris gave him a worried look, “I thought you were waiting to find, Mom?”

“I… I did find him. He has been living here since they found the city.”

“Mom is here? When can we see him?” Chris asked.

Emily and Katie looked more worried than excited about seeing Rodney, John thought, “whenever you want, buddy. I can arrange it for later today.”

“Yes, please,” Chris said.

“All right, I’ll talk to him today.”

******

Rodney was in his lab when strong arms wrapped around him from behind making him jump.

“Shush, it’s just me, baby,” John whispered in his ear.

“You scared the hell out of me,” he grumbled.

“I’m sorry, I talked to the kids this morning and Chris wants to see you. What time will you be done tonight?”

Rodney stiffened in John’s arms, he might have missed it if he wasn’t so in tune with his mate’s normal behavior. It was an odd thought, he should not be in tune to any of Rodney’s emotions or gestures, but for some reason it had become increasingly difficult to remove himself from Rodney’s presence. He was slightly surprised when Rodney spoke, so caught up in his own thoughts.

“Late, really, really late.”

“Dammit Rodney, you can’t hide from this forever.”

“I’m not hiding, John,” Rodney said, as he turned in his lover’s arms.

“Yes, you are. They want to see their mother and they have a right to see you. What are you afraid of, Rodney?”

“I… I… what if they hate me?”

“Baby, they won’t hate you,” John sighed.

“You can’t know that, John.”

“Chris was excited that I found you.”

“I just don’t know, John.”

John looked Rodney in the eyes and said, “well I do know. They want to see you. They will not hate you. I know that Emily is nervous, but she just doesn’t remember you or understand why you left. You’ll have to probably address that with her, but Chris will understand.”

“Why would he understand me leaving him… them… you.”

“Rodney, I didn’t spend the last few years trying to fix the laws just so I could find you and bring you home. I did it for Chris.”

Rodney’s eyes widened, “he’s… he’s like me?”

“Yeah, I would have done what I did anyway, but when I found out about him… I just couldn’t let my… our son, go through what you and my dad did. I love you, Rodney, but I also know that you really never loved me.”

Rodney was quiet, his eyes were wide and frightened, “John… I… would have come back. I did… do care about you.”

“I know you would have and I know you care about me, sweetheart. Maybe someday soon you will love me as much as I love you,” John said, with a sad smile.

“I should be done with my experiment in the next two hours. Will that be good?”

“Yeah, that will be perfect,” John said, as he gently rubbed Rodney’s bottom lip and leaned down to kiss him gently, pulling away from the other man, he turned and left the room.

******

Rodney was nervously pacing his quarters. He turned to find his friends staring at him with small smiles on their faces.

“What?” he snapped at them.

“Nothing,” Daniel said.

“I’m meeting with my kids in like less than ten minutes. I’m nervous, all right.”

“It’s fine to be nervous, Rodney. How are things with you and John?” Evan asked.

“Good, I guess. He’s really touchy with me, I forgot that about him,” Rodney said.

“Do you love him?” Carson asked.

Rodney hesitated before answering, “I don’t know.” Looking down at his watch, “I had better go… I don’t want to be late,” he said, as he swept out of the room.

“Well, at least he is still talking to the man,” Carson said, with a small laugh.

“Yeah, but I think we might need to help him figure out that he is completely in love with John,” Daniel chuckled.

“Good luck with that one, Danny,” Evan said, patting his boyfriend on the shoulder.

******

John was pacing his quarters waiting for Rodney to show. James touched his shoulder to stop the pacing; John looked at his friend and gave him an understanding smile.

“Sorry,” John said.

“Hey, it’s all right. I know that you are nervous about this meeting. John have you thought about what you will do if this doesn’t work out between you and Rodney?”

John sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, “yeah, I have. I already told him I would let him go if he didn’t want me.”

“John…” James started, but was interrupted by John.

“Don’t James. You’re my best friend, but I’m in love with Rodney. I don’t think that is going to change.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think that would change,” James said, with a sad smile.

Before anything else could be said the door chime sounded and John was practically knocked over by a blur called Chris. He stood back and watched as Chris opened the door and threw himself at his mother, hugging him tightly. John watched Rodney’s eyes widen in shock at Chris’ behavior. Rodney was dragged into the room by the young boy as James slipped from the room.

“Are you going to stay with us?” Chris asked Rodney.

Rodney sighed, one of his biggest fears was that his son would not forgive him for leaving. He held the boy close to him and made a decision that would probably change his entire life again, “yeah, I am,” he said, as he smiled at John.

John blinked at him, surprised that Rodney would agree to move in with them after all his talk of wanting freedom and not to be confined by John. He sat next to Rodney and quietly asked, “are you sure?”

Rodney just nodded; he couldn’t just leave his son again after he clearly had missed him and apparently still loved him. He heard a noise behind him, turning to find two young girls staring at him with wide eyes and a bit of fear. He recognized one of the girls as his daughter, Emily, even though she had been just a baby when he left. The other girl must be John’s sister, he gave them both a tentative smile and scooted closer to John to make room for the two girls. Emily made her approach first and decided to plop herself right into his lap. John seemed to sense the other girl’s reluctance to join them, calling out to her, “Katie, sweetheart, I want you to meet Rodney.” She made a very slow approach of him and gave him an appraising glance.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hey,” he said back, giving her a small smile.

“What do I call you?”

Rodney was stunned by that; he really didn’t know what John would want him to be called by this little girl who wasn’t their child. He turned to his mate with a questioning look.

John faced the little girl and opened his arms to her, she climbed into his lap and he tenderly kissed the top of her head, “how about you call him, Rodney, for now.”

“Okay,” she said, as she cuddled closer to him.

The five of them sat like that for a while enjoying the peace and quiet; simply just being together. John had wrapped his arm around Rodney’s shoulder and was soaking up the sense of rightness having his mate and children around him again, when his headset beeped at him.

“Sheppard,” he answered.

“This is Chuck, sir, we have a slight issue that needs your attention in the gateroom.”

“On my way,” he said, with a sigh.

Rodney smiled at him, “go, we’ll be fine.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said, as he rose from the couch and kissed Rodney. He turned and left the room, a much happier man, than he had been just twenty-four hours earlier.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.
> 
> Sorry, I know it has been a bit since I posted last. Things have been kind of busy and this was the first time in a while that I had time and felt like writing. Our air conditioner was down for about a week and we had to stay with my parents, since living in a house with no air and 110 degrees outside, is just not happening.

John returned to his quarters almost twenty-four hours after he left. The small issue in the gateroom turned out to be a situation that required him to agree to accepting a group of refugees from a planet being attacked by a group of aliens called the Wraith. Sumner had objected to his allowing the group onto the city, but he just couldn’t let them die if he could help it. The Athosians, were a seminomadic people who had been willing to be potential trading partners with the expedition. Mitchell had made first contact with them, hopeful that they could make some type of deal when all hell broke loose on their planet. Mitchell and his team were able to save the majority of the native people from being culled. It was their first real encounter with the alien race called the Wraith and if it hadn’t been for Teyla Emmagan, the Athosian leader, John wasn’t sure he would still have as many members of the team Mitchell left with. John had agreed to let the Athosians stay with them on the city in exchange for native Pegasus guides on each of his off world teams.

He was surprised to find Rodney still on the couch when he entered the room. He had a laptop open and was apparently working on something that had him quite absorbed. He didn’t seem to notice that John had entered the room until he was practically in his personal space. John smiled down at him, “have you been here the whole time I was gone?”

“Yeah… um… I hope that was all right?”

“Yeah, it’s perfect. Are you still planning on staying with us?”

“If you have the room.”

John stomach sank; he had been thinking that Rodney wanted to rekindle their relationship, it had never occurred to him that he might just want to be near the children. Not wanting to make assumptions, he said, “yeah, you could use my room and I’ll take the couch out here.”

“Oh, that… I guess that would be fine.”

John sighed, “Rodney, what do you want from me? I’ve told you want I want. I want you in my life and in my bed, but if you just want to co-parent and be friends, I can accept that, but I need you to tell me what you want, I’m not a mind reader.”

Rodney wanted someone who would take care of him, but give him his freedom to be himself. He wasn’t sure he could live his life confined by societal constraints, because he could carry and give birth to children; it wasn’t like women didn’t do that all the time, as well. He thought… no, he knew he had feelings for John and he did love their children, but John had always been a bit domineering and demanding and that was a concern for him. Deciding that the best course of actions was to tell John what he wanted and see if the other man could handle it, “I want to try and be together, John. I want to be with you and the kids. I want to be more than just co-parents, but I’m not sure I can put up with your domineering ways. I always felt somewhat smothered and restricted. I want to make my own decisions and… yeah, I know you said that you would let me keep working, but I’m not sure if you mean that.”

John sat next to the other man, taking his hand in his, “Rodney, I’m not going to stop you from working, but I might stop you from overworking. I never wanted you to not work before; I would have done anything to give you back your freedom back then, if I could have. I just want you in my life. I want to love you and protect you, but I want an equal partnership in this relationship.”

Rodney smiled at him and squeezed his hand, “um… how about we get some sleep and decide on moving my things here, later?”

John nodded his head; yawning he yanked his lover to his feet and dragged him into his room. He dug around in his clothes and found night pants and a tee shirt, tossing them to Rodney he pointed to the adjoining bathroom and left with his own clothes to change and ready himself for sleep. When John returned to the room he found his mate already in the bed, he slipped in between the sheets to join him in slumber. Pulling the other man into his arms he kissed the back of his neck and whispered to him, “goodnight, my love.”

Rodney just hummed his response.

******

Rodney was jolted awake by a knee in his stomach and someone tapping his forehead. He opened his eyes and found three children staring at him. His son was the only one not touching him; Emily was the one with her knee in him and Katie was poking him on his forehead.

“We’re hungry,” the two girls said in unison.

He moved to shift off the bed, but was held fast by John’s arm that was still wrapped around his waist. He rolled his eyes and jabbed John in the ribs. He heard a grunt as John reacted to the jab, but his arm did not loosen.

“John, I need to get up,” Rodney tried.

“What? Why?” was the response.

He rolled his eyes again, “because I need to use the bathroom. Some kid decided to poke me in the stomach and they seem to be hungry. I have absolutely no idea what they eat or how to feed them.” He could feel the smile John had on his face that was pressed into his back, he wanted to be offended, but decided that it was best to ignore his mate.

“Kids, go wait in the other room for us, please,” John said.

“Okay,” three small voices said and they left the room.

John rolled Rodney so he was on his back and hovered over him; kissing him on his frowning mouth he chuckled lightly, “go on and use the bathroom and I’ll take care of the kids. I’m working from here this morning. What time are you supposed to be in the labs?”

“I have a meeting with Radek at nine about my latest project.”

“Okay, have lunch with me?”

“I’m supposed to have lunch with… um… my friends.”

“Friends?”

“Carson, Daniel, Evan, and Radek. You… you don’t mind, do you?”

John smiled at him, “of course not. How about dinner?”

“Yeah, all of us could eat together,” he said tentatively.

“We’ll come find you when it’s time,” John said; he kissed his mate and carefully removed himself from the bed, leaving the room shortly after.

Rodney just shook his head and quickly used the restroom and got ready for his day the best he could. He decided to detour to his own quarters to change into a clean uniform and have a quick shower before he had his meeting with Radek.

******

Rodney had been working for several hours in peaceful bliss when he heard Daniel’s voice approaching his lab. He turned to find his friends entering his lab with trays of food and a carafe of what he hoped was coffee.

“Hey, I thought we were eating in the mess hall?” he said.

“There isn’t any privacy there,” Daniel replied.

“What do we need privacy for?” Rodney questioned.

The four other men just rolled their eyes at him for being so obtuse. Evan placed the tray in front of Rodney and grabbed his coffee cup to pour him a fresh hot cup.

“So, how was your night?” Evan asked.

Rodney sighed, he should have known that his friends would want to question him about his relationship with John. “It went fine,” he said, it was best to keep it short and sweet with them.

“Fine?” Carson questioned.

“Yes, fine. We talked.”

“About what?” Danial asked.

“About us and the kids.”

“What did you decided?” Evan wondered.

“We’re going to try and work on our relationship. I’m going to move in with them and see how things go.”

“I am not losing my best scientist, am I?” Radek asked.

“I thought Kavanagh was CSO?” Rodney said.

Radek huffed, “he goes to meetings for command staff, but I do all the work.”

“Oh,” Rodney said, he had not been aware of this. He had assumed that Kavanagh was having Radek help him, but was actually doing most of the work himself. He would bring this up with John when he saw him later; his mate never like lazy people.

“So are you quitting?” Daniel asked.

“No, John said he didn’t mind if I worked. He did say he would stop me from over working.”

Carson smiled, “I think I might just like him even more now.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rodney said, scowling at the doctor.

“It means that I won’t have to follow you around to make certain you are sleeping and eating,” Carson snickered at him.

“I eat and sleep,” Rodney objected.

“You eat when we bring you food and sleep when one of us drags you off to your bed,” Lorne said.

Daniel snickered at the affronted look that crossed Rodney’s face, but quickly stopped when Lorne’s gaze turned towards him.

“You might want to watch what you say there, Danny,” he smiled at his lover, “I might just have to talk to Shepard about handling a scientist who doesn’t know when to sleep or eat.”

Daniel was about to retort when he heard someone clear their throat behind him; turning around he saw that Shepard was standing in the doorway. Everyone in the room was stunned when Rodney quickly made his way to Shepard’s side before the man could even say anything.

“I thought we were meeting for dinner?” they heard Rodney ask.

Shepard face softened and he touched Rodney’s face gently, “we are. I just missed you. I didn’t mean to intrude; I’ll come get you around six tonight for dinner?”

“That will work.”

“Good. We’ll move your stuff after that, if you still want,” he said, tentatively.

Rodney nodded his head and John gave him a kiss on the forehead before he turned around and left the five of them alone.

“Wow,” Daniel said.

Rodney turned to face his friends, the expression on his face was one of confusion, “what?”

“I’ve just never seen you do anything like that before,” Daniel said.

“Like what?”

“Um… as soon as you saw him you were at his side. It was like he called to you, but didn’t even say a word.”

Rodney began to say something, but stopped and thought for a minute about what Daniel had said. It was true, he had run to John’s side as soon as he saw him. He thought back to his interactions with the man and found that he had been willing to drop what he was doing whenever John appeared near him. He also remembered John mentioning that he had a harder time being away from Rodney, but he just figured that was because they had been apart for so long. He ignored his friends and headed towards his laptop that was connected to the Atlantis mainframe; he began a search in hopes of finding out if his theory was correct.

“Rodney, what are you doing?” Carson asked.

“Trying to prove my theory.”

“What theory?”

“That the Ancients are responsible for men who are carriers and that the city is influencing John and me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I did a cliffhanger, but I promise to try and get the next chapter written soon.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.

The knock on his door startled him. No one came to his door. He was considered a hermit by some in the nearby town. He went into town to pick-up supplies, but tried to keep to himself. He had just settled down with a cup of coffee and the hottest new crime novel when the knock came. Carefully, he pulled the gun he kept for protection from the side drawer and quietly approached his front door. Looking to the television screen he had placed near the entrance to his cabin he saw a man he never thought he would see again. He was angry, they told him he would be safe here in this remote wilderness cabin with only a small town nearby.

Angrily, he yanked the door open and pointed his weapon at the balding man on his doorstep. “What do you want,” he growled at the man, his gun never wavering.

“Patrick, you look well,” the man said.

“Get your ass in here,” Patrick growled again, scanning the outside. He wanted to make certain it wasn’t a trap.

The man entered the room and found a seat by the newly started fire, he had hoped Patrick would be receptive to his visit, the gun pointed at him dissuaded him of that thought.

“It’s good to see you again, Patrick.”

“What the hell do you want?”

“I don’t want anything from you. I came to inform you that you do not need to hide anymore. The law that kept you in hiding has ended and you may return to your old life.”

“What about my husband?” Patrick said, not keeping the distain on the word husband out of his voice.

“He will continue to finish out his prison term for domestic and child abuse.”

Patrick’s demeanor changed at the other man’s words, “is Katie all right? You know I never wanted to leave her, but they said it would be almost impossible to get her out safely and he had never hurt her. I should have stayed to protect her.”

Patrick had taken a seat across from Richard and he was grateful for that as the gun that had been pointed at him was now pointing towards the floor. “She’s fine, Patrick. She is currently living with John. When he found out that your former husband had abused her he took action and rescued her. You know he’s the one that worked to get the law changed and uncover the corruption and abuses.”

“No… I haven’t really kept up with any of the news. What about David?”

“I’m working on that. He and Meredith ran away together, but John has since found Meredith and they appear to be working things out. Look, Patrick, if you want, I’ll take you to when John is and you can see your daughter. John never did believe you were dead.”

Patrick closed his eyes, he wanted to trust Richard, but all his self-preservation instincts were telling him to run and hide again. He had never wanted to leave Katie, but his husband, and how he cringed at that, was intent on killing him. There never was a day that went by that he did not receive a new bruise and it was escalating. He had trusted Richard once before on nothing but faith; now he would take another leap of faith and accept his offer.

******

It had been a month since Rodney began his search in the Ancient database hoping to find any information regarding carriers. He had never told John about his theory, not sure if their feelings for each other were real or if the city was making them feel love and affection.

He was sitting in his lab not really working and just blankly watching a simulation running on his laptop when Daniel came bursting in, “I think I may have found something.”

Rodney blinked at him, confused at first to what Daniel may have found until he noticed the excited look in his friend’s eyes, “well don’t keep me in suspense,” he snapped at him.

Daniel just rolled his eyes and took the seat next to his, “all right, so I did some digging and decided to look in the cultural database instead of the medical one. We know that the Ancient’s weren’t the most logical of thinkers, even if they thought they were.”

“More like the most arrogant species to have existed,” Rodney retorted.

“Yeah, okay, so here is what I found. We know that the Ancients fled our galaxy because of a deadly plague that apparently they couldn’t find a cure for. We also know that they ended up here in the Pegasus Galaxy and created the Wraith, but what we didn’t know was that their population was decimated by that plague.”

“How bad?” Rodney asked, just as Carson, Radek, and Evan entered his lab.

“Bad,” Daniel said. “It seems that when they fled the Milky Way Galaxy their population was barely at sustainable levels. In fact, it was near extinction levels and disproportionately male in numbers.”

“Wait, are you saying that the Ancients had more men than women and Rodney was right that they created male carriers?” Carson asked.

“Yes, it would seem that the population was almost ninety percent male. They first tried to use an artificial womb, but the success rate was one in ten. The women had a similar gestational period as modern humans so that meant the few females they did have would have to be pregnant all the time and that still wouldn’t bring their population up quick enough. It seems one of the scientist had been trying to make male carriers, because he and his husband wanted to have a child that was genetically theirs. Their first attempt was successful and the baby was born without any complications and the ‘mother’ survived and thrived.”

“All right, but that doesn’t explain where the idea of mates bonding came from,” Evan said.

“Um… well, it seems that some of the men didn’t want to participate in this repopulation effort. To make certain it worked, they genetically altered certain males that would be best for carrying offspring. They somehow altered them so that they would attract other males for breeding purposes. It worked, only it had the unintended consequences of making the couple… um… bonded. The non-carrier would be protective of their mate and the carrier would encourage reproduction. From what I can tell, it looks like they took on an almost dominate/submissive relationship.”

Rodney’s eyes widened at that, “what?” he screeched.

“Yeah, but it’s kind of weird how it works. You apparently release a chemical that bonds John to you, not the other way around.”

“But… but I never felt like this before,” Rodney stuttered out.

Daniel bit his lip and looked towards Carson; handing his tablet to Carson, Daniel slowly backed away from Rodney.

“Well now, that is not what I would have expected.”

“What?” Rodney snapped at him, no longer able to hold in his anger and fear.

“It would appear that as time went on the chemical bonding process became less and less effective, until in most people, it was completely dormant. I’m not certain as to what reactivated it in you, but something did and now you are producing high levels of it.”

“Wait, how would you know that? Daniel’s not a medical doctor.”

“No, but the city started to keep track of your physical condition and apparently sent some data to Daniel regarding you. I’m sorry Rodney, but it looks that the bonding process is almost complete. I have no idea how to reverse it without a great deal of research.”

“So what I’m feeling for John isn’t real,” Rodney said, as he slid down the wall in his lab. He felt lost and alone in that moment. He had wanted his feelings for John to be real and not some artificial forced thing, but that did not seem to be the case.

“No… I wouldn’t say that,” Daniel replied.

“Really? Some stupid Ancient decided millennia ago that they needed to keep propagating the species and altered their own genetics to make male carriers and now I’m bonded to someone that I probably would never have dated if this had not happened. Daniel, the chemicals are making me want John, not the other way around.”

“The bonding process wouldn’t even take if you didn’t have some type of feelings for him, Rodney.”

“I don’t understand,” Rodney said in confusion.

“Apparently, you could only bond to someone that you actually had or have feelings for. The Ancients research leaves a lot to be desired regarding this whole thing, but I’m certain that you do actually love John and that is why the bond is taking, not the other way around.”

“Damn, I’m so confused,” Rodney whispered. He wanted John in that moment. He wanted someone to wrap safe arms around him and tell him everything was going to be all right, but he also wanted to run and find the farthest place he could hide. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder; he leaned his head on that shoulder and smelled John’s aftershave, knowing he had somehow called to his mate.

“Hey, what’s going on, baby?” John asked.

Rodney just cuddled closer to John, not wanting to talk or deal with the new development.

“Talk to me, sweetheart,” John tried again.

“Everything is so fucked up, John.”

“What exactly is wrong?”

“Wait, why are you here?” Rodney demanded. He instinctively knew he had called for John, but he had to confirm his hypothesis that their connection was getting stronger.

“I… okay, this will sound strange, but I felt that you wanted me and I found myself standing outside your lab. It was like I knew you needed me, but you never called me.”

“Is that the bond, Daniel?”

“Yeah,” Daniel replied.

“Bond? What bond?” John questioned.

Rodney sighed, he held his hand out for Daniel’s tablet and Carson gave it to him, “John… I should have told you this earlier but I had hoped that I was wrong. Um… here read this,” he said, handing the tablet over to John and glaring at the now empty room. His so called friends had fled while he was distracted with his mate. He shook his head, when had he started to think of John as his mate?

John was quiet as he read the information on the tablet; Rodney knew he was finished when he lowered it and exclaimed, “holy shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I totally made up all the pseudoscience stuff, but hey, it is all just for fun.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine. Feedback is welcome.
> 
> Okay, so I'm not sure about this chapter. It felt like it was bouncing everywhere. So, if it doesn't make sense please let me know.

“So, this bonding is coming from you?” John asked Rodney.

“Apparently. John, I’m so sorry for this… if I had known….”

“Hey, why would you be sorry for this?”

“Because you don’t have a choice in this,” Rodney said, not aware that he had climbed into John’s lap and was cuddling closer and closer to him.

John sighed, he ran his hand through his lover’s hair and smiled at him, “Rodney, I’m glad this happened. If it’s true that you are spurring this on, then it must mean that you actually love me; it’s not a one-sided attraction.”

“Oh, but you would have been able to find someone else back when we were younger if I hadn’t done this.”

“Baby, if what I read is true, you didn’t do this until I found you here. The whole chemical bonding didn’t begin on Earth.”

“Huh… I’m… my head is fuzzy, John. I’m not thinking clearly,” Rodney said, shaking his head trying to clear the cotton wool feeling from his mind.

“Hey, when was the last time you ate?” John asked, concern lacing his voice.

“That isn’t his problem,” Daniel said, as he reentered the lab.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“I did a bit more research and I think it might be the final stages of the bonding.”

“How long will it last?”

“Um… well… it won’t end until you two… um… you know,” Daniel stuttered.

“Until we have sex,” John huffed.

“Yeah.”

“He can’t consent.”

“John, his consent has been given by him wanting to bond with you.”

“He’s drugged by some experiment that the Ancients did. It’s not fair or right to take away his free will like this… I always promised I wouldn’t force him.”

“You’re not. He wants this and if you want him to be back too normal, you need to have sex with him.”

John sighed, but carefully maneuvered Rodney to a standing position and wrapped his arm around his waist to help steady him. Daniel walked behind the other two men, deflecting any attention and keeping people away from the couple. The longer John was in Rodney’s presence the more clouded his mind became. Daniel had read that until the bond was complete John could be dangerous if he thought someone was trying to harm or take away his mate. Daniel was sure that John didn’t even realize he was growling at people in the hallways of Atlantis.

They were finally at John’s quarters; Daniel had asked Miko to care for the kids until John and Rodney were done bonding and cleared their heads. Daniel would be grateful for that, because the Daedalus was only a week out and John needed to be clear headed when it arrived.

******

Sumner, Kavanagh, and Weir were the most unlikely of co-conspirators. They hated each other, but really couldn’t stand John Sheppard. The trio also wanted their jobs back and eliminating Sheppard from the city was the fastest way to accomplish it.

Weir entered the room that the trio used to meet, smiling at the other two, “did you hear?”

“Hear what?” Sumner asked.

“Sheppard and McKay locked themselves in their quarters. I overheard Jackson and Beckett discussing some sort of bonding that the Ancients created. If they are compromised, we could use that to our advantage. Get him kicked out.”

“We would have to have documentation for the IOA. They won’t just believe our word,” Kavanagh sneered.

“That might work, but we also need to convince the IOA that having children on the city is dangerous,” Sumner commented.

“How would you do that? Those kids are constantly watched and actually well behaved,” Kavanagh questioned.

“I have any idea. It will just take some creative thinking. We just need to make the kids have a small accident that will show how dangerous it is to have them here,” Sumner responded.

“Just don’t hurt them,” Weir said, “well, just not too bad,” she finished as she walked out of the room with a vicious smile on her face.

******

John rolled over and flopped on his back next to his mate. Rodney had been insatiable, but he was finally asleep and John was grateful for the break. John closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, but was roused when Rodney snuggled closer to him; Rodney rolled onto his side with his back facing John, John shifted to his side and wrapped his arms around his mate as he spooned behind him and allowing himself to drift back into sleep.

When John awoke he found Rodney staring at him in concentration. He smiled at him, “hey, feeling better?”

“Yeah… do you… do you feel me in your head?”

John concentrated trying to find any type of connection that he might have with his mate. He did feel different, but he wasn’t able to put his finger on it in a way that he could explain. “I’m not sure,” he said.

“I can feel your emotions. Your content, but worried.”

John rapidly blinked at him in shock, “yeah… I’m happy that you let me in, but I don’t really know if you wanted this.”

The smile that Rodney graced John with put his doubts to rest, “I’m happy, John. I didn’t think this was something that I would have wanted, but I feel complete. I don’t understand why you can’t feel that though.”

“There is a presence in my mind, but I’m not feeling anything from you. Maybe, you have to be worried or hurt for me to feel it?”

“Yeah, maybe. We should probably ask Daniel. We also, might want to take showers since we kind of reek.”

John laughed, “yeah, we do. Come on, we can shower together and save on water and time.”

******

Two days after John and Rodney finalize the bonding, as it was now being called by Daniel, John still didn’t feel anything on his end. He knew Rodney could feel when he was worried or upset, hell he could even tell when John was tired or hungry. It was the strangest thing John had ever experienced when Rodney arrive at his office door with a lunch tray of food because he couldn’t concentrate with John’s hunger nagging at him. Daniel hadn’t found any reason for this behavior yet, but he was still looking into it. The charm at his office door drew him from his thoughts.

“Enter,” he said. The door opened to reveal Teyla, the leader of the Athosians. She entered his office when he directed her to and indicated she should take a seat in front of his desk.

“How may I help you today?” he asked.

“I wish to thank you for allowing my people to reside in the city of the Ancestors.”

“But…”

“My people feel that there is more they could do to assist your people. We are capable of growing crops and of hunting for meat. We wish to offer our assistance in this way by residing on the mainland.”

John blinked at her, he had thought about growing crops on the mainland, but he didn’t really have the people or the knowledge to do that type of work. “That’s very nice of you, but it might not be the safest or the easiest life.”

“We have never had the safest or easiest of lives, Mr. Sheppard.”

“Please, Teyla, call me John.”

“John…”

“What about your offer of native guides to be added to our teams?”

“We will still continue that as well. Some of my people though need other endeavors to make life have meaning.”

A thought occurred to John in that moment, “would you happen to have someone who would be willing to act as a nanny?”

“Nanny?”

“Oh… um… child care giver?”

“Ah… you require some assistance in taking care of children. I was not aware that there were children other than ours on the city.”

“Yeah, I have three and I since I work and so does my mate, it is difficult to care for them. I have an assistant and a friend who help, but they have other duties that I would like to assign them. If I could find someone that was willing and capable, I could offer them residence in the city and they would be helping me out enormously.”

“I believe I have someone who would be interested. She does not wish to travel off-world and does not really enjoy hunting or farming.”

“That would be great. What is her name?”

“Selana, she is young, but responsible. Do you wish to meet her?”

“Yes. I should probably have my mate there as well. How about tomorrow for breakfast?”

“That would be acceptable. I will inform her.”

“Thank you Teyla. Would you join us as well tomorrow?”

Teyla dipped her head in acceptance of John’s offer. She left shortly after that, leaving him to continue his paperwork. He was reviewing his emails and schedule for the next few days when his office door opened and Rodney swept into his office. He was startled when his mate pushed him away from his desk and sat in his lap.

“Um… everything all right?” John asked.

“I… I needed contact.”

John just smiled and wrapped an arm around his mate’s back holding him close. They sat in silence for several minutes, but eventually John needed to prod his mate back to work.

“Baby, I need to finish up here.”

“I know,” Rodney said, as he gave John a quick kiss on the lips and removed himself from his lap. He turned and left John’s office just as quickly as he had arrived. Rodney’s behavior was going to drive John nuts. He decided to contact Daniel and see if he had discovered anything new about the bonding and why John was behaving normally and Rodney was acting clingy. John didn’t mind the clinging, but it was not his mate’s normal behavior and that concerned him. After finishing his work, John left his office and headed to find Daniel, hopeful the man had found something that would help.


End file.
